The Best Sushi Knives on Amazon, Reviewed

When it comes to cooking sushi, you need high-quality ingredients to deliver an excellent meal to your customers or your family!

But it would help if you also had high-quality cooking equipment.

When I started taking sushi-making classes, for some reason, they emphasized the importance of having quality sushi knives. And I get it. How are you supposed to cut fish or meat fillets perfectly to fit the sushi roll you’re making without a good sushi knife?

So I bought six of them. Yes, I know, a bit excessive. But I just had to know which ones were the best! And now you get to know, too.

There are two low-priced, two moderately priced, and two high-priced, and here I decide which the winner is in each price category.

I will be reviewing them based on sharpness, grip, style, versatility, and value for the price.

Let’s go.

Before You Buy

For getting your first (or next) sushi knife, you need to know precisely what your sushi knife needs to have before you buy it so you can compare.

First, it needs to be razor-sharp.

That’s right. Sharp enough to give you a bob by just swinging it around your hair once.

I was just kidding. But it does need to be sharp and thin enough to cut through fish and meat fillets, as well as vegetables so that you can assemble, cook, and serve your sushi perfectly.

Every day sushi knives are sharpened at about 30 degrees, which is not that sharp. But the fewer degrees it’s pointed at, the sharper it gets. That’s why the better option would be to purchase knives that are sharpened at 15 degrees.

Next, it needs to be made of a metal that will not rust or get damaged with contact with meat, fruits, and vegetables. One good material for this is Stainless Steel since it prevents rust from forming after it touches any of the foods just mentioned. But sometimes, they come with carbon, which makes the knives stronger and better at cutting.

And as I mention various foods, your knife also needs to be versatile as well. This means that it needs to cut through various foods effortlessly (since the sharpness, as I said, is a significant factor).

Your knife also has to be reliable and durable. You can’t always depend on sharpeners or other tools to maintain your knives since they should stand alone as quality sushi knives (at the beginning, at least).

And finally, the grip and style. Your knife should have a nonslip grip. This makes it safer to use since it is way less likely that it could slip, or you could hurt yourself by cutting or slicing something.

The style is, although not THE most important thing, also important. You don’t want a sushi knife that looks cheap or bad quality, and you want to cook sushi in style. So, I recommend choosing the one that fits your budget, but that also calls you the most, stylistically speaking!

Low-Priced

So first up in the low-priced category is the SAWKIT Sashimi Sushi Knife. It comes in a 7-inch blade or a 9-inch blade and has a protective layer that makes it easy to clean. It sits at an excellent $18.99 and includes a knife storage box to hold it in for storage. It’s made of stainless Steel and brings its own small blade sharpener.

On the other hand, we have the Culina 8-Inch Nonstick Carbon Knife With Sheath. Its 8-inch blade is made of steel alloy and carbon. Being an extremely strong material in a knife, the carbon makes it a solid and durable kitchen companion. It’s on Amazon for just $14.99 and includes a sheath for safe storage.

So, let’s put them to the test.

First, to test both of these knives, I took two raws, thawed salmon fillets and cut across from them to test the sharpness of the blade.

The Culina sushi knife just slid through the salmon with no problem! I think it may have been because of the carbon. It also had a better grip, a more stylish look, and more versatility. It cut through meat, vegetables as well as fish with ease. AND it’s a bang for your buck.

But for the SAWKIT knife… Honestly, it was a bit blunt. I had to use the sharpener, and that’s when it started doing a little better, but I think a sushi knife should be sharp AND in a durable way… Not blunt on the first try, and then you have to sharpen it to get better, like a pencil. This is a ridiculous requirement, especially if it’s slightly more expensive than Culina’s. It has a 4-star rating on Amazon, but I give it a 3 for bluntness. It just did not deliver the way I expected.

But to put them to the real test for versatility, I took a raw steak fillet, some green bell peppers, and some potatoes. And the Culina knife worked wonders! It cut through tough-to-chop meat and veggies without any issue at all. Yet, the SAWKIT knife proved to be blunter and made it harder to chop or slice through the food, especially the potatoes.

As for value for the price, I would say Culina is the best option since it’s more affordable, and more robust, and more durable, for which you don’t need a sharpener for at least a while after you’ve been consistently using it.

Also, the style of Culina’s sushi knife is undeniable. It comes in a jet-black hue that makes you feel powerful while you’re in the kitchen. But SAWKIT’s knife is plain-looking and comparatively boring.

Winner: The winner across the board is the Culina sushi knife. It’s stronger, sharper, and even more affordable! I give it five stars.

The difference between purchasing one or the other is that the SAWKIT one brings a sharpener and the Culina one doesn’t. But I guess for SAWKIT’s knife, the sharpener is extra necessary since it’s not that sharp at all, but Culina’s doesn’t need it.

With these two knives, you would think you’re getting what you pay for, but Culina proves that to be wrong, as it knocks it out of the park, making this the best sushi knife out of these two in my book.

Moderately Priced

Up next in the moderately-priced tier, we have the Gyutou Traditional Japanese Sushi Knife for $39.87. It comes in an 8-inch blade, is made of carbon and steel, and has a wooden grip. It is sharpened at 15 degrees, and it also brings its box.

Also, in 8 inches, we have the imarku Chef Knife for $33.99. It is made of stainless Steel and 0.6%-0.75% carbon, making it twice as hard as other sushi kitchen knives with carbon since those normally contain just about 0.3% carbon. It’s thinner and also contains about 16%-18% chromium to make it glossier and more durable.

So, let’s test them!

To test the sharpness of the blades for these knives, I took my trusty experiment of using a raw, thawed salmon fillet. But I had to sort of saw repeatedly through the fillet to get it to cut well for the Gyutou sushi knife. It also cut thicker slices of fish no matter how much I tried to make it thin!

However, for the imarku knife being the thinner option of the two, it cut thin slices of fish with greater ease. It also had a stronger, more reliable, nonslip grip compared to Gyutou’s.

For the second experiment for versatility, I again took a raw steak fillet, some red bell peppers this time (to change it up), and a few potatoes. The imarku knife, I have to admit, was a little harder for this one. While it is versatile, it is still a very thin sushi knife intended for that purpose. Yet, the Gyutou knife proved to be a little better at chopping the vegetables, what with it being thicker and all.

As for the value for the price, I would say imarku is the best option. This is because not only is it a few dollars more affordable, but it’s actually a better sushi knife overall! It excels at its intended purpose beyond expectation. Also, the glossy look of imarku’s sushi knife is something to behold, making it superior to Gyutou.

Winner: The best sushi knife out of these two, then, would be the imarku. It’s stronger, sharper, and again, more affordable! 5 stars from me.

The difference between the two is that imarku’s has a higher carbon percentage than the Gyutou, which makes that Japanese sushi knife much stronger, durable, and reliable at cutting your sushi meat!

With these two mid-priced knives, I would say you would think you’re getting what you pay for, but again, I was impressed to say that the best option here was the more affordable one!

High Priced

We now have the tremendous DALSTRONG Yanagiba Sushi Knife, crafted by a 15-degree sharpening angle, sitting at 9.5 inches, and costs $89.99. It brings its storage box AND a sheath for its protection.

Finally, we have the 8-inch now Damascus Chef Knife. It is made of VG-10 Stainless Steel and sits at about $75.99 on Amazon. It’s stain- and corrosion-resistant and comes in a jet black and space gray hue. It also brings its own storage box.

As for the sharpness of the knives… you guessed it. Let’s test it on salmon first.

The elegant DALSTRONG knife mercilessly slid through the meat and tendons of the thawed fillet, giving it a beautiful shape for sushi. I was blown away. This one had a personal feel to it, like in was made in Japan herself. The grip was nice, tight, and easy to hold. And surprisingly,it cut through the fish seamlessly.

The enowo knife… I had to give it a couple of tries before it cut the slices the way I wanted it to. It was frustrating and annoying. It is not what you expect a sushi knife to be.

But to put them to the real test for versatility, I took a raw steak fillet, some orange bell peppers (you know, variety), and lastly, potatoes. The DALSTRONG knife proved to be a worthy opponent to this meat and the veggies, as it cut through without any issue at all. Yet, the SAWKIT knife proved to be blunter, and made it harder to chop or slice through the food, especially the potatoes.

As for the value of the price, I would say DALSTRONG is the best option, even though it’s a bit more expensive than the enowo. This is because

Also, the style of DALSTRONG’s sushi knife is undeniable. Its style is sophisticated, professional, and sexy. And while enowo’s is stylish as well, DALSTRONG has superior design, in my opinion.

Winner: The winner across the board, then, I would say, is the DALSTRONG Japanese sushi knife. Its! It’s perfect for sashimi, as you need Yanagi knives (also known as long, thin, fish-cutting kitchen knives) to make this type of sushi successfully. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.

The difference between purchasing one or the other is that the DALSTRONG knife brings a box and a sheath. But the enowo knife brings just the box. Also,

With these two knives, you would think you’re getting what you pay for, but Culina proves that to be wrong, as it knocks it out of the park with its sushi knife, making it the best out of these two in my book.

The Best Sushi Knives in the Market

All in all, when it comes to sushi cooking, you need a high-quality sushi knife. Heck, you may even require the BEST sushi knife.

But finding one nowadays is so difficult! So I reviewed these knives to give the most honest and thorough review for the products, so you don’t have to go through the hassle yourself. And in my findings, I saw that the top 3 best sushi knives on the Amazon marketplace are the Culina 8-Inch Nonstick Carbon Knife With Sheath, the imarku Chef Knife, and finally, the DALSTRONG Yanagiba Sushi Knife.

All of these knives are great in their own ways, but I would recommend getting any of the three that best fits your budget! If you’re a beginner, maybe opt for the Culina knife or the imarku to step up your game.

If you’re taking a class, like I am, I recommend the imarku. Or you could buy both as a sushi knife set to start!

But if you’re a professional or just starting as one, I HIGHLY recommend the DALSTRONG knife. It’ll give you the edge that you need to continue your journey of sushi making.

Overall, though, I do recommend you get a high-quality Japanese sushi knife, as taking classes for sushi-making can change, improve, and add spice to your life.